1
Life After the Civil War
Previous Unit
Reconstruction/African American
Challenges
I. Physical Features
and Climate of the
Great Plains
II. Inventions and
Adaptations of the
Great Plains
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Flatlands
Low rainfall
Erosion
Dust storms
Next Unit
Rise of Big Business
Westward Expansion
1849-1890
Barbed wire
Steel plows
Dry farming
Sod houses
Beef cattle raising
Wheat farming
Windmills
Railroads
III. Reasons for
Westward Expansion
IV. Impact on
American Indians
 Land ownership
 Adventure
 Railroad:
Technological
advances
 Gold and silver
wealth
 Exodusters: New
beginning for former
African American
slaves
 Forced relocation
 Reduced population
 Opposition to
westward expansion
 Assimilation
 Reduced homelands
b/c of Broken
treaties
VOCABULARY
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
1. How did people’s perceptions and use of the Great Plains change after
the Civil War?
2. How did people adapt to life in challenging environments?
3. Why did westward expansion occur after the Civil War?
4. How did the lives of American Indians change with westward
expansion?
Great Plains
adaptations
Transcontinental Railroad
assimilation
Battle of Little Bighorn
Chief Joseph
reservation
Battle of Wounded Knee
2
Describe the picture using adjectives.
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If you lived here, what would you do
for fun?
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List 2 places where this picture might
be.
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What type of people would not like to
live here?
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What problems/dangers would you face Why would some people rather live
here?
here than New York City?
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What kind of people would like to live
here?
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To survive here, what would you have
to be able to do?
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3
The Great Plains
After the Civil War, people changed the way they viewed the vast interior of the continent.
Because of new technologies, people saw the Great Plains not as a “treeless wasteland” but as a vast area to be settled.
Where is it?
(Can you name all these states?)
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This place makes me think of…
-Gold Rush
California 1849
- Comstock Lode (Nevada silver)
-Black Hills
Mining
(South Da
What did people think
before the Civil War?
What did people think after
the Civil War?
Who qGO
The Plains were called the
“Great American Desert.”
Rainfall was scarce and
unpredictable.
There were frequent
damaging storms and
swarms of hungry insects.
The land was hard to farm,
since it had never been
plowed.
Herds of wild bison
roamed the land.
It was a long way from
civilization.
The wind blew long and
hard; there were few trees.
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Would you go to the Great
Plains? Why or why not?
because …
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Irrigation and a decade of
unusually wet weather in
the 1870s made the Plains
habitable.
Crops flourished, and
farmers grew food for
themselves and cash crops
like wheat.
Railroads brought fresh
settlers and supplies.
Pioneers enjoyed being
independent and selfsufficient.
Many people found life
too lonely and difficult in
the prairie.
NO GO
4
II. Invention and Adaptation in the Great Plains
barbed wire, California, cattle, dry farming, goods, mechanized farming, Nebraska,
sod houses, Rocky Mountains, High Sierra, steel plows, subsidy, wheat, windmills
New Tools and Techniques
Adaptation of Existing
Technology
Transcontinental
Railroad
__________ __________ made
it possible to prepare
uncultivated land for planting.
To pump water for their crops,
farmers put the wind to work
with __________.
Railroad engineers crossed the
__________ __________ and
the __________ __________.
Pioneers protected their
homesteads with fences made of
__________ __________.
Immigrants brought hearty
strains of __________ suited to
the climate of the Plains.
Railroads transported people out
West and western __________
East for sale.
Settlers on the Plains lived in
__________ __________ made
of earth and grass.
Entrepreneurs herded wild
__________ to market.
Because they received a large
government __________, railroads sold land for low prices.
__________ __________ helped
farmers produce more crops
with less work.
__________ __________ made
it possible to grow crops with
little rain.
The TCRR stretched 1,700 miles
from __________ to
__________.
Template © 2003 Edwin Ellis, Graphicorganizers.com
5
Record 10 Facts from Charlie Brown onto the Train
6
Question
Battle at Little Bighorn
V
S
Event at Wounded Knee
Date
(When)
Who?
Big ARMY
Names
Who?
Big Native
American
Chief
Names
Tribes
Location
(Where did
it take
place?)
Conflict
(Why)
Result
(What
happened
in the
end?)
Compare and Contrast SOL II.4a Answer the questions
using the hand-outs. 
7
F
Forced relocation from
traditional lands to reservations
(Chief Joseph, Nez Perce)
R
Reduced population through
warfare and disease
(Battle of Wounded Knee)
O
A
R
Opposition by American Indians
to westward expansion
(Battle of Little Bighorn, Sitting
Bull, Geronimo)
Assimilation attempts and
lifestyle changes
(e.g., reduction of buffalo
population)
Reduced their homelands
through treaties that were
broken
Y
Manifest Destiny: Forced
relocation from homelands to
reservations
(Chief Joseph, Nez Perce)
B
Buffalo: Reduced population life
resource killed.
(Battle of Wounded Knee)
B
Battles: American Indians fight
settlers.
(Battle of Little Bighorn,
Wounded Knee, Sitting Bull,
Geronimo)
A
Assimilation leads to life changes
D
Disease and Death due to
Manifest Destiny and settlers.
These are the negative effects of Westward
Expansion and a differing perspective on land
ownership for Native Americans.
Pick one to help you remember.
8
F
A
Y
A
R
O
R
CREATE A Picture to
match each Letter.
B
B
D
CREATE A Picture to
match each Letter.
9